A culinary connection (with addendum)

May 23, 2021May 24, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 10 Comments

Yesterday it was my intention to write about National Strawberries and Cream Day. And about the skip rope rhyme that ran through my head all day …

🎶 Strawberry shortcake, cream on top, tell me the name of your sweetheart, A … B … C …

Thought about it, that is, until a better storyline emerged. And thus left it for the today’s patchplay.

My shortcake recipe has morphed over the years from biscuits to scones, the most recent version coming from my 1999 Joy of Cooking, one of three editions that I own …

the oldest is a 1946 edition that belonged to Don’s Nana, the other two were birthday gifts from my folks …

My mom was right, as I rarely use cookbooks, but they do tend fall open to the few recipes I consistently turn to: sponge cake for strawberry trifle, apple pie (preferably made with Granny Smith apples), and the aforementioned scones …

I do have a tendency to edit them a bit. Ahem.

So that’s how I arrived at joy, using a bit of Inktense dyed cloth loosely based on the 1946 Joy of Cooking cover.

The other patch was inspired by Deb G’s Bee Creative, which often features the best food photography accompanied by tempting “recipes” (which is to say, while Deb lists ingredients, she usually leaves quantities and procedures unspecified … my favorite kinda cooking) …

It reminds me, yet again, how very much I value the time spent each morning checking the Kindred Spirits listed on my old blog …

So I’ll see you all again tomorrow, bright and early, with coffee cup in hand 😊

An addendum for Barry …

I’m pretty sure Sandra Boynton isn’t using entirely “official” holidays … ha!

The rainbow connection

February 14, 2021April 20, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 16 Comments

February 14, 2021 – Valentine’s … I mean, Melissa Day (*revised 4/20/21*)

February 14, 2021 – Valentine’s … I mean, Melissa Day

Melissa Reid (aka MR, Meliss, Mom, and Aunt Liss) was born 35 years ago on a snowy Valentine’s Day …

It didn’t take long before she began to proclaim it her day. And while Baskin Robbins took care of baking her early birthday cakes …

eventually Strawberry Trifle became her most-requested birthday “cake,” up to and including five years ago, when we celebrated together in St Louis …

In the many years when we haven’t made it up to St. Louis, we’ve made it a point to celebrate remotely. But when I spotted this recipe a couple of weeks ago …

I thought it looked like a good alternative to making a trifle…

It also proved to be a great jumping off point for today’s patch, which was made with a Spoonflower cotton sateen sample …

and a sprinkling of variegated floss (from P’s coverlet project) tacking down a bit of harem cloth.

Nota bene: I struggled over how to document the previous five days of Senate impeachment trial in patches. A solution made itself known last night at 2 am, so watch this space …

Temperance

April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 ~ Liz A ~ 8 Comments

After finishing up yesterday’s card/collage, I drew Temperance. Unable to recall which creature I had chosen, I consulted my notebook. As I did, I sensed motion out of the corner of my eye, turning just in time to spot a tiny blue dragonfly.

“Don, have you seen any dragonflies since we moved here?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, I just saw one and you won’t believe what the next card is supposed to be.”

Yeah well, that’s pretty much how this project has unfolded.

Anyway, temperance is often associated with the rabid alcohol abstinence movement that led to Prohibition. But I’m a cook, and tempering eggs is where my mind prefers to go. As it did last night, when there was leftover rice. I doused the rice with milk and nuked it in the microwave for a minute or two (although it would have worked as well on the stove). Then I separated an egg, spooned the raw yolk in half, and stirred in a bit of vanilla extract, sugar and cream (the egg white and remaining half yolk got saved for scrambled eggs another day).

Stirring in one hot milky spoon-full of rice at a time, I brought up the temper-ature of the egg yolk … then folded the tempered mixture into the rest of the hot rice. I was careful to check with an instant read thermometer to be sure it got up to 160 degrees (food safety, you know). Then spooned the rice pudding into little bowls with a sploosh of cream and a dusting of cinnamon sugar …

Yum.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, Temperance …

78 Degrees: the ability to combine spontaneity with knowledge … a true and proper response to all situations as they arise … handling life’s problems with a joy that appears a magical … doing the correct thing … which may be doing nothing (another Covid reference)
Kitchen Table Tarot: one foot on land, one on water
The Creative Tarot: finding a middle way

The “joy that appears magical” was a perfect fit with Dragonfly, but I did go ahead and do a little research to be sure I was on the right track. Turns out that dragonflies spend much of their lives in water, then become flying creatures when it’s time to mate. A fitting analog to the Smith-Waite depiction of a winged being with one foot in the water and one on land …